Tiny living is not new. Cities have have always had tiny apartments, co-ops and condos. The water has live-aboards. The suburbs and the country have always had cottages on lakes, trailers, mobile homes, yurts, cabins, motor homes, etc., etc. Many humble summer cottages transitioned into primary homes in more recent years. Americans choose to live tiny for financial reasons or to find a way to live large. There’s a freedom that comes with living tiny, freedom from possessions, freedom from debt, freedom to choose less lucrative work, and freedom to wander.
Three years ago, we moved into a tiny 458 square foot cottage. This former barn built in 1868, made the transition to a home during the 1930s. in the spring a woman stopped by who lived in the house as a child with her four siblings, father and grandmother! Our little house looked so small compared with it’s neighbors, that delivery people missed it, as they assumed it was a garage. I’ve resorted to standing on the street to flag them down at times.
This simple life, this minimalism, set us free. We can actually access our own resources. Admittedly, overnight guests requires a certain amount of creativity, but hey, it was funny. And was not frequent enough to justify paying for more space.
Since June we’ve been full time RVers as we transition from the East to the West Coast. No matter the container we live in, minimizing gives us space to breathe, to be, to live easier.
American Tiny 